College Students Participate in Overlook Medical Center Summer Internship

June 17, 2017

June 2017, Summit, NJ – During the month of June, 17 college students from New Jersey hometowns will participate in a comprehensive summer medical internship led by Overlook Medical Center vascular surgeon, Clifford Sales, M.D.

Now in its eighth year, the program draws students from a range of colleges and universities throughout the nation, from state colleges to Ivy League schools.

The Overlook Summer Internship Program (OSIP) is an in-depth four-week program developed to expose undergraduate college students to the field of health care. It is designed to give students a close-up perspective of life as a physician in a wide range of specialties.

“There is no better way to learn about the field of health care than to experience it first-hand,” said Dr. Sales, past president of the Overlook medical staff. “By following alongside health care providers through their work each day, these students will get to see how various people in different fields of medicine contribute to a patient’s health, but also allow them to understand the human aspects of providing health care to patients and their loved ones. Equally important is for the students to understand what life is like as a medical professional. Can I be a surgeon and still coach my daughter’s soccer team?”

During daily rotations, the students shadow a medical professional - mostly physicians, but also therapists, administrators, nurses and social workers - who is committed to teaching and sharing their experiences. This gives the student an opportunity to see what life is like in each particular field. Rotations include experience in the operating room, emergency department, hospital floors, physician offices or meetings. Each student has the opportunity to interact on a personal basis with the health care professionals.

Each day, Monday through Thursday, begins with a one-hour breakfast discussion led by a professional who discusses his or her field. The focus of this group is on the lifestyle and the pros and cons of each medical specialty. Thereafter, each student reports to an assigned mentor in the setting thought to be most appropriate for the student’s experience. The day is structured by the mentor and each day is very different.

Fridays conclude with a lunch session designed to exchange ideas with fellow students about current experiences and discussion topics of interest to the group.

“These students are at a crucial time in preparing for a career, and experiences like this provide them great insight to make decisions,” Dr. Sales added. “Each year, we have students who are surprised to discover an area of medicine they never thought they would be drawn to, and we have others who decide health care is simply not for them.”

Students must have completed at least two years of college to attend the Overlook Summer Internship Program (OSIP). Consideration will be given to class level and academic standing.

Students in the 2017 class are: Zarina Akbary, of Totowa, a graduate of Passaic Valley Regional and a junior at Kean University; William Allen, a graduate of Westfield High School and a senior at Boston College; Alexa Altchek, a graduate of Livingston High School and a junior at Harvard University; Meredith Bagger, of Westfield, a graduate of Montclair Kimberly Academy and a junior at George Washington University; Daniel Berkowitz, of Cranford, a graduate of Solomon Schechter High School and a junior at Rutgers University; Cameron Blazoksi, a graduate of Chatham High School and a junior at Vanderbilt University; Dan Childers, a graduate of Summit High School and a senior at Notre Dame University; Margaret Deary, a graduate of Millburn High School and a junior at Johns Hopkins University; Morgan Epley, of Elk Township, a graduate of Delsea Regional and a junior at TCNJ; Kush Mansuria, of Parsippany, a graduate of the Academy for Math, Science & Engineering, and a junior at Johns Hopkins University; Madison Martino, of Clinton, a graduate of North Hunterdon High School and a senior at Gettysburg University; Matt Muller, a graduate of Summit High School and a senior at Cornell University; Colleen O’Neill, a graduate of Chatham High School and a senior at Wesleyan University; Allie Poles, a graduate of Randolph High School and a junior at Michigan State University; Mackenzie Roberts, a graduate of Summit High School and a junior at Duke University; Emily Saadi, of Warren, a graduate of Wardlaw-Hartridge School and a junior at Georgetown University; and Claudia Torres, of Union, a graduate of Kent Place High School and a junior at Yale.